Well, Ladies and Gentlemen, I’m stoked and super-excited about the huge, international showcase event that I’ll be organizing on March 22, 2019 in downtown Helsinki at The Circus nightclub and live music venue, called SLAM! Wrestling Finland Mega Launch!

After over 25 years in the professional wrestling industry, I’ve decided to take the next step and enter the event organizing field, offering custom-tailored, internationally-flavored pro wrestling shows to clients, companies, event organizers, clubs and festivals. SLAM! Wrestling Finland is on on-demand service that gives the client the freedom to choose the kinds of wrestlers and talents from a wide, international talent pool of top stars for their event. It’s really quite revolutionary and innovative as an approach, and this big, media Mega Launch event upcoming on March 22 will be my showcase to the movers and shakers as well as the public at large as to what SLAM! Wrestling Finland truly has to offer!

On March 22, 2019 at The Circus, there will be a three-way Triple Threat international women’s championship title match, an international Hardcore match that sees the rule book thrown out the window, a battle of colossal behemoths, a “David vs. Goliath” big man vs. smaller man match-up, an international tag team match and a bevy of exciting, dynamic singles matches between top wrestlers from different countries!

Already confirmed for the card: the bodyguard of the stars, Tiny Iron from Great Britain, is coming to SLAM! Wrestling Finland Mega Launch! Tiny is 2m tall and weighs in at 120kg plus, with biceps that have to be seen to be believed: 24 inches of python power, brother! Even Hulk Hogan would be jealous! Tiny has been the bodyguard for Beyoncé, The Black-Eyed Peas, Rhianna and 50 Cent. Tiny Iron is a true, international superstar and we’re excited to have him in Helsinki at this big event on March 22!

Shanna (PT), Natalia Markova (RU) and Betty Rose (SE) are ready to rumble on March 22!

Also confirmed for the show: one of the top female stars in all of Europe, “Portugal’s Perfect Athlete” Shanna, the massive 1.91m/190kg behemoth Demolition Davies of Germany, the top pro wrestler out of the red-hot territory of Hungary “Renegade” David Turger, Finland’s own “Wildman” Heimo Ukonselkä as well as “Metal Warrior” Stark Adder, Russia’s premiere female wrestling export #The Woman of Mass Destruction” Natalia Markova, “Pin-Up Punisher” Betty Rose of Sweden and many, many more!

It’s all coming down at the biggest, multi-cultural pro wrestling extravaganza ever to be held in the Nordics of Europe to date!

I’d also like to share this superb, inspiring piece about SLAM! Wrestling Finland’s co-operation with metal industry manufacturer Power Tech Group here in Finland regarding the construction of our top-notch SLAM! Wrestling ring. This is something that will put a smile on your face and leave you feeling good, guaranteed:

Alas, as the Good Book tells, there is a season for all things under heaven. A season to reap, a season to sow. A season to gather stones, a season for throwing stones away.

And so it was, that on December 1 in Helsinki, Finland, seven years and 10 countries grappled in since his debut, my former protege Mikko Maestro finally achieved his dream: he defeated The Man in Finnish FCF Wrestling today, Yours Truly, “The Rebel” StarBuck.

In a game match fought over the course of a half-hour, Mikko Maestro showed no quit and would not be denied. He wanted the 30-minute Iron Man match, and he got it. In the end, with literally one second remaining on the clock, Maestro got the one and only duke of the match after hitting his second trademark Uranage (Rock Bottom for you casual WWE fans out there) of the night.

No complaints, no qualms. Mikko Maestro struggled hard to get this spotlight opportunity and he made good on a fatal 13th installment of a tradition that I started back in 2006, the Finnish Winter War aka Talvisota.

Mikko Maestro is now FCF Champion but I’m cashing in my rematch clause this coming weekend on Saturday, December 8 in Tampere, Finland. Mikko Maestro has now become the hunted, and in a few short days’ time, he’s going to have to pray for a miracle to retain that title and keep a sixth record FCF title reign from happening for this old dog of war.

This past Saturday, November 24, in the city of Kotka, I entered a new phase of life. One which saw me embark on a the beginning of a new chapter with my SLAM! Wrestling Finland company. Because yesterday, we pulled off our maiden voyage with SLAM!

I recall my father saying to me back when I was a younger man, that one day he believed I’d be a leader, a boss. He saw that stock in my persona and character. I kept his words in mind as I traveled down the roads of life, feeling in my heart that one day, indeed, I would become what he believed back then.

I look at my life at the age of 45 and I draw parallels to my old friend Chris Jericho and the lessons to be learned from his life over the past couple of years. Chris left WWE on the top of the mountain, as a favorably featured main star on RAW. He dropped the Intercontinental Championship to Kevin Owens at Wrestlemania 33 and then left the company riding the high wave. Chris hooked up with his old buddies Jado and Gedo, the bookers of New Japan Pro Wrestling, and orchestrated a deal for him to come in to NJPW and become a lead star for the second biggest wrestling company on the planet. To this day, he holds their IWGP Intercontinental title and just sold out his own Jericho Cruise, which was highly touted in the media.

Now Chris could have chosen to stay with WWE after Wrestlemania 33 but he chose not to. In retrospect, I think I can assess his situation: he had done everything he could for that company. He’d been a multi-time WWE Champion, holding a plethora of titles, and at the age of 46 back then, he surely understood that his days as a regularly featured talent were coming to a close. The younger stars of today were coming up fast, being pushed hard, and the older stars would need to take supporting roles before long. So the question really seemed to be: do I spin my wheels and remain here, collecting a nice payday, or do I want to grow as a human being and see how else I could spread my wings beyond what I’ve already achieved?

As I’ve gotten older, I understand this train of thought perfectly. Like life coach Tony Robbins often says, out of the seven basic human needs, the last two are the needs of the spirit: the need to contribute and the need to grow. I can underline this with clarity.

Here in 2018, it was time for me to take an honest look at my life and ask myself the pivotal question: what do I want to do with my life from hereon forward? How do I see myself facilitating a living for my family and myself in the future? Where do my talents lie, and should I venture off into a new field and trade, or should I attempt to make a living utilizing and doing what I already know over the course of accrued life experience? I chose the latter.

And so it was, that last night in the city of Kotka at Power Tech Group‘s annual pre-Christmas party, SLAM! Wrestling Finland was launched upon the world. It was done under the most optimal, high-class circumstances possible: professional lighting and sound, customized entrance way, a fresh and new audience that was excited to be there, and a card of pro wrestling action featuring the best, carefully-selected talents for each match that would facilitate a fun and dynamic night of action for everyone on hand.

Thank you, Power Tech Group, for not only sponsoring and making our SLAM! Wrestling Finland ring, but also for giving us the stage and spotlight to set forth on the waters of live entertainment service providers in the Nordic sector!

Challenging me will be former DWA World Champion from several years back, Joe E. Legend. Joe also happens to be Canadian, just like myself, and in the latter half of the ’90s he briefly wrestled for WWE as Just Joe.

I know Joe from my early beginnings in pro wrestling, going back to my sophomore year in the business. It was the year 1995 and Joe took the Greyhound bus down from Toronto to rendezvous with me in Sudbury, Ontario to drive onward to Winnipeg, Manitoba to wrestle for Tony Condello’s IWA. On that same tour were Ultimo Dragon from Japan, Chris Jericho, Sexton Hardcastle (WWE’s Edge), Lance Storm, Bad News Allen and former AWA World Heavyweight Champion, Rick Martel. It was a star-studded tour to be sure, and it was a crash course for a green boy like myself back at that time.

Joe Legend is a veteran of the ring wars, just like myself, here 23 years later. How ironic, that we meet under these circumstances now this coming weekend at DWA’s Harley Night!

Be that as it may, Joe E. Legend is in for the fight of his life in one week’s time. He’s a former DWA World Champion and I plan on making it stay that way.

I’ve been a performing musician for the past 19 years, and as such I’ve enjoyed a modicum of adventure and success around the world.

My own baby is a band I created back in 2000, which I called Stoner Kings. The name is a takeoff on Josh Homme’s Queens Of The Stone Age band, which I found to have an absurdly contradictory name back in the day. “If there’s a queen, there must also be a king!” I mused to myself. And alas, in my personal bravado and grandeur, I auspiciously called my own heavy rock outfit, complete with chunky, grooving riffs and heavy drums beats, Stoner Kings.

STONER KINGS 2018

We released our debut album back in 2001, entitled Brimstone Blues. At the time, I felt like I had conquered the world. It was my maiden voyage, with my very own crew, me, the captain of the ship. Sure, I had been in a band prior to this, but it was someone else’s ship. I was just a crew member. With Stoner Kings, it was mine, all mine.

We went through the ups and downs, trudged the roads of trial and tribulation, met adversity from those others might have deemed “brothers” in our chosen genre, were kicked off stage in the middle of a particular set, and traveled Europe together. It was a brilliant time, one I wouldn’t trade for anything.

In 2006, we released our sophomore effort, entitled Fuck The World. I was pissed off, angry at our detractors and tired of smacking our heads against the glass ceiling. In Finland, it was a small circle of inside members, and if you weren’t hip with the big boys, then you weren’t playing ball. I bucked the system with FTW, gave as good as we got and then some. That said, we did pretty good with FTW domestically in Finland, although we failed to make a bigger imprint with it globally.

Eero Kaukomies and Hannu Leidén

In 2007-2008, Stoner Kings went through some major upheaval. All the guys in the band got overhauled and changed, except for Yours Truly, Captain StarBuck. It was a tumultuous time, one that saw a very disjointed and wavering adaption of Stoner Kings. It wasn’t going to last and it didn’t. At the end of 2008, I called it quits and hung it up with my baby.

I engaged in different bands after Stoner Kings, finding solace in other musical endeavors and efforts. Yet, deep down, I knew Stoner Kings was my brainchild. It was my imprint, for better or worse. You can’t run from who you are and you can’t bullshit yourself. And so it was, that at the end of 2016, I felt the urge become undeniable. I reformed Stoner Kings, complete with my my original drummer Janne Kontoniemi, 2007-2008 bassist Rude Rothstén and a young, hungry guitarist named Joonas Vepsä.

Alexi Laiho (Children of Bodom) lends a hand to one of our new songs with a mean lead & solo!

I had a vision. I had unrealized songs hidden away in my musical drawer, just begging to be released. Songs I had written in part 15 years earlier. They were ready, awaiting to be incarnated on tape. Other tunes had been spawned within the past few years. Yes, I was still churning out the only kind of rock that I knew how to make with my eyes closed. Chunky, heavy, groovy, catchy, riff-laden, attitude-infested raw rock. The kind that cavemen would dig. Primal. Animalistic. Simple.

And so it was that over the past year, from the fall of 2017 to the fall of 2018, we did our due diligence in the studio. We performed and laid down recordings over three separate sessions in order to focus our energies on writing a quartet of songs at a time. We got serious. Driven.

Now, here in the autumn of 2018, on a Monday tagged October 8, we brought our newest Stoner Kings incarnation of an album to a successful close. We mastered the thing at Chartmakers West in Espoo, Finland, under the auspices of Svante Forsbäck. Our producer Hannu Leidén and our sound engineer and mixer Eero Kaukomies stood by with us as we finalized the deal. It was a group effort, and we all shared in the thrill of the kill.

Svante Forsbäck puts the final mastering touches on our new album today.

So alas, here we are now, with a complete, finished third Stoner Kings album in hand. Even in today’s desperately crappy record label jungle, I’ll still shop this doozy around to see if any possible players are game out there. Knowing the nature of the game and dire numbers of physical album sales, I’m not holding my breath for any miracles. Nonetheless, I’ll do my best on behalf of my baby. I believe staunchly in the product we’ve created and it’s an absolute killer in my ears.

After a four year absence and missing Japan terribly, I will be back in the Land of the Rising Sun next week! This has been a long time coming, I can assure you of that and the Japanese fans are eagerly awaiting my return from the buzz that I’ve heard.

On September 24, I will be wrestling for ASUKA Project in Tokyo, as these guys running the deal are former WNC rookies from 2013-2014 that went on to form their own company after Tajiri and select other wrestlers moved on to Wrestle-1. I will be teaming with UTAMARO against Shota Nakagawa and Shinose Mitoshichi in a tag match.

Then, on September 27 at the famous Shinjuku Face Arena in Tokyo, I wrestle for Jimmy Suzuki’s Tokyo Championship Wrestling, once again tagging with UTAMARO against my old rival “The Japanese Buzzsaw” TAJIRI and my ex-stablemate from my 2012-2014 unit Synapse in WNC, Yusuke Kodama. Tickets available through: http://wrestle-tour.com/tcw0927ticket.html

I will be signing autographs with a special meet + greet with the Japanese fans at Toudoukan in Tokyo on Sunday, Sept. 23 at 6:30PM and there will be another meet + greet with autograph signings on Sept. 26 at Pro Wrestling Shop Champion starting at 7:30PM.

This week on Friday, August 10, I will defend my Valhalla Nordic Wrestling Championship title in a long-awaited rematch against Timmy Force at an place called Under Bron in Stockholm.

It was last year on July 8, 2017 that I defeated Timmy in an all-time Nordic classic lasting almost a half-hour to become the undisputed Valhalla Nordic titleholder after being named interim champ by STHLM Wrestling owner Samantha Fox (YES, that Samantha Fox, famous pop star from the ’80s) and STHLM Wrestling president Messiah Hallberg.

Now, just over one year later in the same city where I won the strap, I’ll be defending it once again in a 30-minute Iron Man match, where the rules stipulate that the man with the most decisions within 30-minutes claims the championship. Falls can be accumulated by pinfall, submission, countout or disqualification. Once the time-limit expires, the wrestler with the most falls wins the match and lays claim to the Valhalla Nordic title.

Timmy Force put up a hell of a fight last year, wowing and impressing even the WWE staff that was on hand to witness our classic encounter, so I can only expect that he will bring his A-game to the championship match this Friday at Under Bron.

Timmy has had one year to get better, to improve his game, up the ante and work the kinks out of his collective machine. Now, he has as good of an opportunity as he is ever going to get to vie for my title, so he’d better have put in the work if plans on having a chance against me in Stockholm.

This August 10 match will be my seventh title defense after winning the Valhalla Nordic championship back on July 8 last year.